Running "regular" tires on a motard with tubes

[xxaarraa]

So... my new to me motard has spoked wheels and tubes in the tires. It has some kind of unidentified michelins that are at least 5 years old, so I am going to chuck them. I am aware of the basic science behind tubes, spoked wheels, converting a tubed wheel to tubeles etc. I'd rather not mess with any conversions, and would just prefer to run as is. Ideally, I'd love to be able to run the 180-55 Pirelli Superbike / Dunlop GPA-Pro that I take off from the 848 and not have to buy tires for another bike (Yes, I already checked and the motard runs 180-55)

Question - can I run "regular" tires on the motard, and just run the tubes inside? Or do tubes necessitate some kind of special tire? And if the answer is yes, what pressure should I set the tubes to? 22-25 PSI?

[jasnmar]

I've heard a number of times that if you run tubes in tubeless radials you will crash and die.

I know a number of people who are running tubes in tubeless radials. None of them have crashed and died.

I've never actually heard of a tire failure due to running tubes in tubeless radials. Seems to be OK.

[Pigman]

Unless you MOD them and or do the silicone on the spokes Ect...you will have to Run tubes. I run pilot roads same tire as any, with tubes on my WR.

180 will never fit on a motard.....even the 160 have issues. I would also put up what motard it is? may help. But yes 120.150/155 is the usuall and some tire peofiles are better than others for motard....ESP pilot powers are narrow

[R7]

Yes, same tires, just with a tube in it. The only super Moto that comes to mind that will fit a 180, sxv 450\550?

[Kurlon]

Tubes in tubeless tires on a motard is the norm. Tubes just add a little weight, and in some situations help heat the tire faster due to internal friction.

[xxaarraa]

Thank you all, exactly what I was hoping to hear. Yes, it's an SXV550 and I plan to just run the hand-me-down slicks from other bikes on it. Really good to know that tubes may help heat up the tire faster. I'm probably going to be slow on the motard for a while, and would be nice to not have to break out the generator/warmers etc and just run the tires.

Any tips on tire pressure? 22-25 seems to come up on google searches. Sound about right?

[South of Heaven]

Thank you all, exactly what I was hoping to hear. Yes, it's an SXV550 and I plan to just run the hand-me-down slicks from other bikes on it. Really good to know that tubes may help heat up the tire faster. I'm probably going to be slow on the motard for a while, and would be nice to not have to break out the generator/warmers etc and just run the tires.

Any tips on tire pressure? 22-25 seems to come up on google searches. Sound about right?

You bringing this baby to Palmer?

[Paul_E_D]

Depends on the tire, but if you are running road courses on normal SS rubber, the pressures don't go much lower than your sportbike. On the 690 I ended up only 2-3 pounds lower than my normal pressures. Tire temps do not get as high, but I didn't like the feel when I dropped the pressures.

[xxaarraa]

You bringing this baby to Palmer?

Nah, brand new track so I'd much rather run a familiar bike - 848. I may bring the RSV4 also to continue to troubleshoot the electrical woes, but braking down on the second lap and waiting out the session is getting old.

[csmutty]

Depends on the track for pressures too.

[Stromper]

Supposedly it only degrades the speed rating 1 level

Change your rib strip dont be cheap

[xxaarraa]

Supposedly it only degrades the speed rating 1 level

Change your rib strip dont be cheap

I am a motard newbie, can you please elaborate what you mean by change the rib strip?

[nick5446]

I'm doing the same thing...SXV550 with Pirelli soft race rubber. I run pretty low pressures because they don't have the weight to get heat into them like the big bikes do.

[R7]

I'd be more worried about the motor puking its guts than the air pressures. When I was running my 550 at Loudon, I was running 20 in the rear, and 21 in the front with the stock Dunlop 208

[Ductard]

The only time I run special tires on my motard is when passing on the outside in corner 4 of Daytona.



Vague references aside (free thumbs up to anybody who knows where that's from)....

...You don't need special tires to run tubes in them. I have run supercorsas and superbike slicks on mine.

As Paul and maybe some others mentioned, you don't go much lower than your sportbike pressures, especially with the Pirelli's that have a soft carcass.

I think I ran like 28 front, 26 rear last year at NYST on Pirelli's.

Maybe I'm sacrificing some tire life for marginal grip increases that low, but motard tires last so effing long anyways that it didn't feel like a bad trade-off.

Any less than that and I got this weird wobble from the front at full lean, maybe from the carcass deforming?

So... my new to me motard has spoked wheels and tubes in the tires. It has some kind of unidentified michelins that are at least 5 years old, so I am going to chuck them. I am aware of the basic science behind tubes, spoked wheels, converting a tubed wheel to tubeles etc. I'd rather not mess with any conversions, and would just prefer to run as is. Ideally, I'd love to be able to run the 180-55 Pirelli Superbike / Dunlop GPA-Pro that I take off from the 848 and not have to buy tires for another bike (Yes, I already checked and the motard runs 180-55)

Question - can I run "regular" tires on the motard, and just run the tubes inside? Or do tubes necessitate some kind of special tire? And if the answer is yes, what pressure should I set the tubes to? 22-25 PSI?